Originally posted by Niners23:The fact that the niners did not pursue other GMs when they were available earlier in the year suggests that this is a relatively new development. My best guess is that McCloughan threw some sort of hissy fit about his power being subverted by Singletary or some other person, and is threatening to step down, which is why all the 49ers bigwigs met today to coddle him or work something out.

Originally posted by Niners23:The fact that the niners did not pursue other GMs when they were available earlier in the year suggests that this is a relatively new development. My best guess is that McCloughan threw some sort of hissy fit about his power being subverted by Singletary or some other person, and is threatening to step down, which is why all the 49ers bigwigs met today to coddle him or work something out.

Your scenario sounds very possible. I also wonder if maybe Holmgren wants him in Cleveland.

Originally posted by Niners23:The fact that the niners did not pursue other GMs when they were available earlier in the year suggests that this is a relatively new development. My best guess is that McCloughan threw some sort of hissy fit about his power being subverted by Singletary or some other person, and is threatening to step down, which is why all the 49ers bigwigs met today to coddle him or work something out.

Originally posted by 84SheepDog:Hopefully if he leaves they don't just give Singletary free reign. I'd want them to bring in some seriously qualified talent evaluators (hopefully from the Belichek/Pioli tree).

Singletary has proven nothing to me as a talent evaluator. s**t, he hasn't really proven to be a successful head coach yet. WHY THE f**k would we want him to be a "GM/HC?"

And our free agency activity hasn't really been stellar outside of Justin Smith and Takeo Spikes. You got guys like DeMetic Evans, Brandon Jones, and now David Carr to secure depth at the 3rd or 2nd string level. That doesn't really make a 7-9 team jump to 10-6.

#5. The trading of Shaun Hill and the treatment of the player was basically the nail in the coffin for him. You take a player that is loved in the locker room and admired by the coaching staff, and trade him...without even notifying him directly. That's classless and Nolanesque.

In order for teams to be effective, owners must trust management, management must trust players, and players must believe in the other two. This is how the Patriots did it, and this is how the 49ers did it in the 80s and 90s.

With McCloughan's track record and inactivity in free agency and the draft to give Singletary a fair shot in 2010, while teams like Seattle and Arizona are gearing up to pose another threat for the NFC West crown, this is a necessary move.

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